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Monthly Archives: August 2011
Latest Posts
Fish Build A Better Wind Farm
Current wind farm technology has hit the proverbial wall with efficiency of the current turbine design almost maxed out. They have to be spaced apart to avoid turbulence from other turbines and this cuts down on the number of turbines in a given area. Today’s tech puts out an average 2 watts per square meter (on productive sites) of farm land. At that rate, even an efficient LED fixture for your reef would require a significant chunk of land. The old propeller style units have their setbacks but a research team from Caltech has turned to schooling fish to help push wind energy to the next level.… More:
Posted in Events, Science
Tagged aerodynamics, flow physics, fluid dynamics, turbine, Windfarm
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State of the Reef
Ever wonder what the current state of the ocean reef around the world is? Here’s a nifty map that shows in various levels. 
Green, yellow and orange indicates that there’s still hope if we reduce damages caused by humans. These areas were determined to be most capable of handling the “stress” even if the expected temperature of the ocean are to rise in the future. Areas marked with red dots were determined to be too late to save, already barren and void of any self-sustaining possibilities if the ocean’s temperatures were to rise.… More:
Posted in Corals, Science, Uncategorized
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Reefs and Art: Whatever you can dream
These days, you can buy just about everything. And if you can’t buy it, you can find a 3D printer and make it yourself. The example above was created by Michaella Janse van Vuuren on a Zprinter 650. That’s right, this surreal combination of coral and a starfish was imaginary until Michaella created it in a 3D modeling tool and printed it. Some other cool aqua related pieces are on her website. … More:
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Don’t Go Into The Light
Brightness is something I hear hobbyists talk about way to frequently when it comes to reef lighting, but there’s much more important things that cannot be measured by the human eye that should be considered when looking at reef lighting. Our eyes work much like a camera, which judges light based on relative light and less on actual output, so more scientific means must be used when figuring out what out photosynthetic pets need.… More:
Tales From The Fish Store | The Worst Gift Ever
If it’s possible to love something, then there’s always going to be someone with the care to make a gift of it. If you’re reading this, you should know that marine aquariums are a love, and naturally can be made into gifts quite often. Stories of this range from awesome additions to poorly planned problems, but the story I heard at the LFS this week takes the cake. Read about the worst gift ever after the break.… More:
Reefs and Art: Steampunk Corals
Here is a cool piece of art named “Coral 2″ from MARONPOT. This piece is made out of pounded copper plate and looks nice a nice retracted favia or acan. The artists from this studio have a couple other pieces in this vein but most of their style comes from aquatic themes such as turtles and fish. Check out the entire portfolio HERE.… More:
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Clownfish Will Host Anything
The movie Finding Nemo may have been the biggest stimulant this hobby has ever seen, and what epitomizes this phenomenon more than the clownfish and anemone combo? Since that movie hit the box office, clowns have been the inspiration behind many a reef tank, and a lot of people add anemones to help them feel at home. This symbiotic relationship serves them very well in the wild, but is it really needed, or worth the risk, in a home aquarium? Find out after the break.… More:
Divers in the Desert
I remember setting foot on my first dive boat. I was happy to see that an entire wall of the boat was devoted to bumper stickers from dive shops around the world, since that implied that we were not their first customers, which gave me some peace. What surprised me was the amount of inland dive shops represented on that wall. It seemed to me that diving should be a coastal hobby, since the cost of gear is expensive enough when you don’t have to tack on airfare to some tropical destination. Apparently Linda Nelson and George Sanders, long time divers (we’re talking over 5,000 and 8,000 dives respectively) and owners of Neptune Divers in Salt Lake City, Utah also felt that there should be an easily accessible and exciting place to dive close to home. After experiencing years of frustration… More:
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Lessons From Reefing
Reefkeeping is the most extremely intensive hobby I’ve ever been involved in, and there is endless stuff to learn. I find myself focusing more and more energy on becoming a more knowledgeable aquarist and devoting more and more time to keeping these amazing creature alive and thriving. Every little topic from nutrition to chemical needs varies a large amount from species to species, so every undertaking is like opening a new book. This may seem like a waste of time and effort to the outsider looking in, but all this work bears fruit that applies to all aspects of life. These are just a few of the life skills that are strengthened by the hobby.… More:
Reefs and Art: If you can’t handle a tank
There are a lot of people who actively follow the reefing community without owning their own tanks, in addition there is always a contingent of hobbyists in between tanks. I always find it funny how creatively reefers can decorate their homes. There really is no reason why you can’t enjoy your underwater life and have a “dry” house. Art, lighting, and other forms of entertainment all play a part in our abodes, so always think outside of the box when decorating. Here is one particularly good job done by an artist named Matthew Werner. For some incredibly photos of an entire bookshelf with this motif, click HERE.… More:
Throw In Delivery And We Have A Deal!
If you’re like me, you often wake up with a stiff back from sleeping with a wad of $4.9 million burning a hole in your pocket. Life is rough, am I right? It’s hard coming up with ideas as far as what to spend that kind of money on. Maybe I could spend a few bucks on someone that could follow me around all day and do all my thinking for me. Or I could just call the master of the frivolous wastes of money, Stuart Hughes and let him come up with some fantastic ideas!… More:
Posted in Equipment, Eye Candy, Funny, Industry, Opinion, Tanks
Tagged Aquavista, Bling, Dinosaur Gold Edition, Equipment, Panorama Tank, Stuart Hughes, Tank
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Being a Better Reefer: Keeping it Real
Unless you walk around with your head firmly planted between your posterior set of cheeks, you’ve probably noticed the current trend towards more organic foods and products. The reason for this craze is that all those added chemicals designed to increase shelf life or make things taste better may be slowly destroying our bodies. While the prospect of never worrying about my post apocalyptic twinkie stash going bad is comforting, the thought of what living off the fluffy yellow dyed pastries would do to me is frightening. If we’re becoming more conscious of what we put in our bodies is it such a stretch to put the same thought into what we put in our tanks?… More:
Posted in Corals, Industry, Opinion, Science
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